IR Mobile

Retail apps overtaking mobile websites for user revenue and retention

Online shoppers are moving towards apps and away from m-websites. A new study by app commerce company Poq[IRDX VPOQ] finds that online shoppers are spending 6% more money on apps and 5% less money on the mobile web every month.

The amount of time users are spending on retailer apps is also on the up. According to the research, the amount of times shoppers are visiting desktop websites and apps is increasing by 2% and 7% month-on-month respectively. The monthly amount of times shoppers interact with mobile websites has remained static.

This move to apps is a boon to most retailers as it is also improving customer retention – for those getting it right – and long term loyalty, according to the study.

Apps show 2.5 times higher retention rates than the mobile web and, says Poq, most customers who are still using a shopping app after two weeks will become long-term users. Shoppers who make at least one purchase on a retail app also show long-term retention rates that are over twice as high as the average app user.

And it seems to be for the long term. Users who share items via the social share feature are twice as likely to keep returning to their shopping app, and over three times more likely to make a purchase than the average app user. Users who use the wishlist feature show 50% higher retention rates than average and shoppable lookbooks increase retention by 45% and double average order value.

Anna Abrell, Marketing Manager at Poq, notes: “It is important for retailers to be aware that mobile shopping apps not only boost customer loyalty, but also open a gateway to new shopper demographics that may not have interacted with them via other channels before.”

She continues: “Activating shoppers whose first point of interaction is the app rather than the website or stores should be a crucial facet of every app commerce strategy. In our app retention report we share more details and tips around how this can be achieved.”

The research backs up findings earlier this year by Criteo, which found that there was a new found thirst amongst consumer for retail apps as shoppers become ever-more mobile. Of those retailers that have prioritized the mobile experience, mobile apps accounted for 54% of all mobile transactions in the retail industry, and 58% of mobile transactions in the travel industry, says Criteo’s study of 1.4 billion online transactions worldwide. Shoppers using mobile apps browsed 286% more products than mobile web shoppers, contributing to an add-to-basket rate 90% higher than mobile browsers. The overall conversion rate on an app was 120% higher than mobile browsers.

Loyalty is increasingly becoming a battle ground for retailers, as loyalty and its rewards are attracting customers away from brands that have, until now, relied on discounting to attract customers. Something we shall be looking at next week.